AQIP Strategy Forum

All colleges in the Higher Learning

Commission AQIP accreditation pathway

are required to attend an AQIP Strategy

Forum every four years. Wright College

participated in its second Strategy Forum

since the college became an AQIP

institution in 2008 at the ‘Q’ Center in St.

Charles, Illinois from February 27, 2013

through March 1, 2013. Nine Wright

College staff members participated in the

forum. College faculty representatives

included Alicia Anzaldo, Pat Miceli, and

Suzanne Sanders. Interim President Don

Laackman, Interim Vice President Mike

Davis, Transfer Center Director Susan

Calabrese, Dean of Instruction Kevin Li,

Associate Dean of Instruction Nancy Koll,

and Research and Planning Assistant

Dean Brian Trzebiatowski also attended

and participated.

The theme for the forum was Creating the

Climate for Continuous Learning. Previous

to the forum, the college AQIP Steering

Committee identified the AQIP Category

Leading and Communicating from the 2012

AQIP Systems Appraisal as the area most

in need of improvement. At the forum, the

Wright College team worked as a small

group and intermittently with participants

from other AQIP colleges through a series

of seventeen exercises to refine a plan for

college improvement in this area. Other

participating institutions included

Cuyahoga, Moraine Valley, and San Juan

Community Colleges.

From the refinement process, a plan was

developed for an AQIP Action Project to

design a Center for Teaching and Learning

(CTL). Within the CTL, a leadership

academy will be developed that will include

mentoring for new faculty members and

training for new department chairs. The

development of an extended new

employee orientation was also discussed.

As an initial step in this project, an

Employee Engagement Survey was

administered to participants at the college’s

AQIP Retreat on March 8, 2013. The

survey results will be used to determine the

engagement of college staff members in

the college community and the general

consensus on the value of a CTL to the

college. Results from the survey will be

available soon.

Submitted by Nancy Koll

Changes to PBworks Site

The PBworks site that AQIP category

committees have been using as a resource

library is being reorganized so that

development of the actual text of the

Systems Portfolio will take place in its wiki.

This change will allow for increased

participation in the updating process and

greater transparency in development.

Under the new organizational system, the

portfolio will be divided so that each

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question in each category has its own page

in the wiki. Members of the category

committees will be able to make changes

to the newest version of the category

answers while maintaining the old versions

so that any unwanted changes can be

reversed. The folders in which committees

stored support documents and data will still

be available.

The starting point for this new

organizational structure is to divide the

original summer 2012 Systems Portfolio

into the individual question pages. Each

question page will contain the original

answer submitted in the 2012 Portfolio, the

feedback that came from the HLC in the

Systems Appraisal, and Wright's responses

to that feedback.

The question pages will be organized with

the oldest information on the bottom and

the newest working version of the answer

at the top of the page. The current working

versions for each question will also be

collected in category pages so that at any

time, the most current version of each

category is available for viewing.

By using the wiki to increase participation

and transparency in the Systems Portfolio,

we will make the updating process reflect

the spirit of continuous improvement that is

central to an AQIP institution.

Submitted by Terrence Doherty

The Wright in Your Corner

(WiYC) Student Center

Title V, a grant for Hispanic serving

institutions, features WiYC (called the First

Year Center in the grant) as one of the key

projects meant to support students with

their academic plans, overall goals,

retention, and success.

The mission of the WiYC student center is

to engage students by connecting them to

the services and offices that will help them

succeed in the classroom, choose courses,

explore careers and network socially.

Goals:

Collaborate with on campus services to

support new and established students.

Use assessment data to advance

student learning and college experience.

Cultivate faculty participation in campus

wide activities outside of the classroom.

Host interdisciplinary activities to

promote “Learning Communities”

offerings.

Promote dialogue and discussion across

various disciplines.

Expand on the use of social media to

support Wright in Your Corner and

highlight student successes/voices.

Establish strong ties with our external

and internal community.

Promote student clubs and activities.

WiYC accomplishments in Fall 2013:

The WiYC welcomed to its team an

Academic Support Specialist. Meghan

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Noah Marshall – Biology – Assessment Chair

Adrienne Leyva – OTA

Andrew Spiropolous – Physical Education

Beverly Bennet – Social Sciences

Merry Mayer – Social Sciences

Fred Hernandez – Computer Information Systems

Jean Burt – Nursing

Darlene Attiah – Biology

James Papademas – Business

James Redlich – Paralegal

Susan Colon – Visual and Performing Arts

Karen Jefferies – Radiography

Tracy Mitchell – Physical Sciences

Krzysztof Ochwat – Physical Sciences

Linda Neil – Library

Vince Bruckert – English

Julius Nadas – Math

Adrian Guiu – Humanities

Suzanne Sanders-Betzold – English

Alicia Anzaldo – Biology

Helen Rarick – Biology

Mai Aly - Registrar

Jones will be working closely with faculty,

and the various support services on

campus in designing initiatives to increase

student performance and success.

Hosted an information session on the

application of Grades First. On, April 10th,

WiYC collaborated with the Gateway on

presenting an informational session to

discuss Grades First as an early alert

system. The discussion initiated a college

wide dialogue on the rewards and

challenges with the application of Grades

First in the classroom. A panel of students,

faculty, advisors, Academic Support tutors,

and Grades First experts shared their

experience with the tool.

Created an online assessment tool on the

various student services at Wright. In

collaboration with Maureen Mulcrone, the

WiYC is designing and implementing the

assessment survey in select CIS 120

classes.

Organized a Tutors Meet and Greet. A total

of 87 students walked into the WiYC from

12:00-2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3rd to

meet with our team of tutors at the

Academic Support Center. The tutors

introduced themselves to the students and

encouraged them to seek tutoring services.

In appreciation, the students signed a

thank you card for the advisors. The WiYC

received positive feedback from both tutors

and students; we plan to offer another

meet and greet in Fall 2013.

Organized an Advisors Meet and Greet

during Advisor Appreciation week. A total

of 93 students walked into the WiYC from

11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb

27th to meet with their advisor or schedule

and appointment. The advisors introduced

the students to the use of Grades First. In

appreciation, the students signed a thank

you card for the advisors. The WiYC

received positive feedback from both

advisors and students; we plan to offer

another meet and greet in Fall 2013.

Developing a student support highlight

video. In collaboration with Bobbi

Baschleben and Maureen Mulcrone, the

WiYC is putting together a student support

services video anticipated to be accessible

to students at registration, during new

student orientation, and on the Wright

College website by Fall 2013.

Developed various student workshops.

Such as Earth Day Clothing Exchange,

Wright Side Poetry Slam, Wright Side

Magazine Rollout, Developing Study Skills,

Writing a Thesis Statement, Interviewing

Do’s and Dont’s, Integrating Quotes, Water

Color Painting, u.select as a Transfer

Tool…

Outreached to the various student support

services offices on campus to collaborate

on joint efforts in providing cross-integrated

resources for our students. The WiYC just

recently launched its Wright College

webpage. Wright College Page > About

Us > Departments > Wright in Your Corner

We encourage faculty, support services,

and students to utilize the resources

accessible at the WiYC center. We are

located in S100. Hours of operation are

Monday-Thursdays 9:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

and Fridays 12:30-2:00 p.m. Email:

wiyc@ccc.edu, Phone: 773-481-8414.

Submitted by The WiYC Team

The assessment projects in

the Humanities department:

Professor Martin Uwodi measures critical

thinking in Philosophy courses by using a

short quiz which students have to take at

the beginning and at the end of class. The

same short questions are also given to

students during midterm week and finals

week. This allows the instructor to assess

the impact of the teaching of philosophical

concepts.

In one scaffolded assessment project,

Professor Hoover asks students to

produce written work at various stages of

the completion. So, for instance, for an

assignment which will culminate in a final,

formal essay on narrative devices in film,

she first has them produce a pass/fail

assignment, which lists the narrative

devices that will be discussed in the paper

and the example of the device from the

film; after this they are required to produce

a paragraph on one of the narrative

devices in their chosen film, which fleshes

out the ideas that they are examining, and

finally the students complete the full-

length essay. The goal of the project is to

measure how scaffolding leads to better

final results.

Professor Adrian Guiu assesses the

connection between discussion board

posting on Blackboard and the quality of

final essays. He observes how breaking up

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assignments allows students to better approach bigger projects

like final papers. This is especially helpful in disciplines like

Philosophy and Ethics. Through the preliminary data he observed

how weekly postings on the discussion board increases the

quality and the completion rate of final papers.

The entire department is involved in curriculum mapping of

specific course SLOs to departmental and general education

SLOs.

Submitted by Adrian Guiu

Library Resources Relocated

The Faculty Resource Room in the Library (L214) has been

converted to a student study room.

Assessment books, DVD’s and journals, formerly housed in the

Faculty Resource Room, are being moved to an open shelf in the

library. Instructors are encouraged to use the assessment

materials for inspiration and practical planning of classroom

activities. In addition to our current resources, the Assessment

Committee has purchased a collection of new materials to further

assist you in creating, evaluating, and improving your classroom

practices.

Stop by the library and take a look at the Assessment Collection.

Submitted by Linda Neil

If you have any comments, concerns, news

stories or just want to get in touch, please

send an email to nmarshall9@ccc.edu.

We value your thoughts, opinions, and

ideas and will do everything we can to take

your thoughts on board.

Assessment Committee